WSET.com - ABC13MPO Votes Yes on Charlottesville Bypass

Reporter: Mark Kelly l Vidoegrapher: Sally Delta

Charlottesville, VA - After decades, the Route 29 corridor battle ended Wednesday. The crowd booed when it was announced Charlottesville will build its Route 29 bypass.

For several hours, concerned residents from Charlottesville fought to keep it from happening. But, the Charlottesville Metropolitan Planning Organization thought otherwise.

This was the last public hearing, and representatives from Lynchburg were there.

"The whole point of a national highway is to transport people from point A to point B safely and efficiently. That is not taking place in Charlottesville," said Rex Hammond, Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce President.

"I think to talk about the volume of traffic on 29 in Charlottesville as if it was diabolical is frankly ludicrous," said Roberta Platts-Mills, Charlottesville resident.

Many at the public hearing agreed with Platts-Mills. The consensus there: no bypass in my backyard.

But, the other cities on the 29 corridor want Charlottesville to build a bypass - Lynchburg included. A Charlottesville bypass, they say, helps build Lynchburg business.

"In order to have an economy and in order to create jobs, highway development is necessary for a healthy and vibrant community," said Hammond.

"I think it's much more important for school kids than people who have business in Lynchburg -- sorry Lynchburg," said Platts-Mills.

The bypass will go up near several Charlottesville schools, but that's just one concern; the environment is another.

"A lot of transportation accidents involving hazardous waste affect watersheds and that's a negative there," said Jason Halbert, Charlottesville resident.

"The concerns that I hear are unfounded -- poisoning the water, poisoning the air for school children?" said Hammond.

But, they are concerns the Charlottesville community fought for, even if, in the end, they lost.

Many opposed say the bypass is the right idea, but the wrong way to do it. They want a transportation plan that uses rail and biking.